Taiwan has enforced some of the strictest airport food regulations in the world for years, and with good reason. The island was one of the few places in Asia that had managed to stay free of African swine fever (ASF) until October, 2025. In this episode of Formosa Fauna, host Tristan Hilderbrand starts with the basics about what ASF is, where it came from, what it does to pigs, and what this means for Taiwan.

0:00 Introduction
1:26 Taiwan's hard-won disease-free status
2:40 The outbreak in Taichung
4:00 What is African swine fever?
5:30 Theories and suspicions: How did it spread?
7:40 Food waste as feed
9:30 The Taichung investigation continues
10:48 Misinformation and the government's response
14:10 Impact on pork sales, vendors, and markets in Taiwan
18:55 Could Taiwan regain its ASF-free status?

See you every week for Formosa Fauna Fridays.